Bowls can be played all-year round. In summer bowls is generally played outdoors on a flat green (lawn bowls) or sloping green (crown green bowls) but in winter it is played indoors. Indoor bowling has two main forms – long-mat and short-mat.
Short-mat bowls in Welburn village hall, North Yorkshire
Long-mat bowls (or indoor bowls) requires special facilities such as those provided at Ryedale Indoor Bowls Club, located in Norton on Derwent, Malton.
Short-mat bowls requires a suitable carpet but can be played in any hall of sufficient length and width. Thus, for example, short-mat bowls clubs often use the local village hall. There are two leagues operating in the Ryedale area – the Ryedale League (RL) and Dales League (DL). Local short-mat clubs (with the leagues they play in) include:
BSA (Swinton) DL
Helmsley DL, RL
Kirby Misperton RL
Kirkbymoorside DL, RL
Marton DL
Thornton le Dale DL, RL
St Cuthberts (Stillington) RL
Welburn RL
Wintringham –
Yedingham –
During the winter of 2018/9 the BSA (Swinton) club have been playing at Ryedale Indoor Bowls Club.
More information about short mat bowls here and elsewhere in North Yorkshire can be found on website www.nysmba.com
Outdoor or Lawn Green Bowls
Enjoying early summer sunshine in lawn green bowls
There are four leagues in which local clubs participate:
Batagas (BT): Triples, Monday and Friday evening
Hovingham (HF): Fours, Tuesday and Thursday evening
Huby (HT): Triples, Tuesday and Thursday evening
Ryedale Vets (RV): Triples, Wednesday afternoon (For older players)
Local Lawn Green bowls clubs (and the leagues in which the play) include:
Easingwold BT, HT, RV
Harome HT, RV
Helmsley BT, HF, RV
Heslerton BT
Hovingham BT, HT
Huby HT, RV
Hutton le Hole HT, RV
Kirkbymoorside BT, HF, RV
Malton BT, RV (website: www.maltonbowlsclub.org )
Pickering BT, HF, RV
Sessay HF
Settrington BT, HF
Sheriff Hutton RV
Stillington HF
Strensall BT, RV
Swinton BT, HF, RV
Terrington BT, HT
Thirsk Athletic HF
Welham (Norton on Derwent) BT, HF, RV
Wiggington BT, HT, RV
More details about these clubs can be found on the League websites:
Batagas League: www.batagasbowls.wordpress.com
Hovingham League: https://www.hugofox.com/community/hovingham-district-bowls-league-13468/contact/
Huby League: 
Ryedale Vets League: https://ryedaledistrictveteransbowlsleague.wordpress.com
This page will be used to provide more details of other bowling activity within Ryedale and the Norton-Malton area of North Yorkshire. Many details about bowls activities in Ryedale can be found here
